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Film (1934; vt L'Or). UFA. Directed by Karl Hartl. Written by Rolf E Vanloo. Cast includes Hans Albers, Michael Bohnen, Lien Deyers, Brigitte Helm and Friedrich Kayssler. 120 minutes. Black and white.
This German film was made by much the same team that had made F.P.1 Antwortet Nicht two years earlier, but is more spectacular and also more nationalistic. German scientists are hired by a megalomaniac Scottish tycoon who wishes to build a nuclear reactor to transmute base metal into gold (see Transmutation). The ethics of the heroes eventually prevail, and the successful prototype is destroyed. The laboratory sequences, with dazzling electrical effects, are impressive, but the film as a whole is somewhat leaden.
A French-language version, L'Or, directed by Serge de Poligny, was made at the same time with a different cast, though Brigitte Helm, the love interest, appeared in both. [JB/PN]
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Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction edited by John Clute, David Langford, Peter Nicholls and Graham Sleight.
Accessed 07:12 am on 24 April 2024.
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